


The Crow

by Lynn_Forster



Category: Six of Crows Series - Leigh Bardugo
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Canon-Typical Violence, F/F, F/M, M/M, Revenge, Swearing, The Crow!AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-13
Updated: 2020-12-02
Packaged: 2021-03-10 01:42:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,069
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27546295
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lynn_Forster/pseuds/Lynn_Forster
Summary: A year after his gruesome murder, the rock musician Kaz Rietveld comes back from the Land of the Dead to avenge his and his older brother's deaths.
Relationships: Jesper Fahey/Wylan Van Eck, Kaz Brekker/Inej Ghafa, Matthias Helvar/Nina Zenik
Comments: 6
Kudos: 12





	1. MATTHIAS. "The Demon's Night"

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone!  
> As I explained in the tags. this story is an AU of the movie "The Crow", with some obvious differences, the main of these is Jordie is the person Kaz wants to avenge, instead of Inej (I would NEVER kill Inej, she's badly injured in the prologue, but she will survive). Also, unlike Eric Draven's girlfriend, Inej has been beaten by the criminals but NOT r*ped.  
> I set the events in a modern Ketterdam and I added a couple of OCs.  
> I really hope you'll like this story!
> 
> (If some of you follow also the Haunted!AU, don't worry, I started writing the new chapter. And I should also update "The Lost Goddess").
> 
> Lynn

“ _People once believed that when someone dies, a crow carries their soul to the land of the dead.  
But sometimes, something so bad happens that a terrible sadness is carried with it and the soul can't rest.  
T_ _hen sometimes, just sometimes, the crow can bring that soul back to put the wrong things right.”_

They called it "The Demon's Night", in Ketterdam. The night between October 30th and October 31st.  
And there was a good reason for this: during that night, crimes and violence dangerously increased, as if criminals wanted to greet Halloween day in the worst way ever. That, to them, it was the best way.  
Matthias Helvar was usually never at home, during the Demon's Night: he was one of the best members of Ketterdam Police and he had to protect the citizens from the delinquents' rage and their fiercest attacks.  
However, that year, he was at home, sitting on the large, red sofa, watching TV with his beloved wife's head rested on his broad shoulder. Their two older kids were peacefully sleeping in their room and an unusual quiet hovered over their neighborhood.  
On the small table, where Nina was laying her bare, tired feet, there were a document, that attested the special permission Agent Helvar got for that evening, and his mobile phone, that was meant to ring only in case of emergency.  
It was almost midnight, when the young man turned his head to take a peek through the window, a weird foreboding raising into his chest.  
Nina sighed, changing her position to rest her legs on his lap.  
"Love, are you okay?" he immediately asked, placing his large hand on his wife's five-months-old baby bump.  
The young woman smiled at her husband's apprehensive glance and she gave his lips a quick, gentle kiss.  
“I'm okay,” she answered, nodding at her own belly. “Our sweet, little girl is always so lively, especially during the night. Tell me about you, instead... you look... pensive. Do you feel guilty for being at home?”  
Matthias wrapped his huge arms around her, cuddling her and kissing her temple: “Not really. Maybe a bit. But I know I'm protecting my family...”  
“And your colleagues are valid people. Don't feel guilty for a single night of permission.”  
The blonde giant smiled, rubbing his nose against his wife's, then, their lips met again, in a much more passionate kiss.  
It was in that moment Matthias' phone rang.  
The Fjerdan's features stiffened. He stretched his hand towards the phone, feeling a dark, burning sense of anxiety raising in his chest. If they were calling him, that meant something very bad was happening...  
“Hello... Agent Helvar here...”  
“Helvar,” Agent Sahin's voice said. “I'm sorry I had to call you, but... it's a mess. A gruesome, horrible mess. We're in East Stave. Join us as fast as you can.”  
Matthias closed his eyes, sighing. He had been feeling that bad foreboding since the moment he accepted to stay at home that night.  
“I'm coming.”  
  
  
  
  


A mess. A gruesome mess.  
Agent Sahin chose the right words to describe the situation. Matthias was standing in front of a tall, old edifice in East Stave, the alley illuminated by the light of the police cars and the ambulance.  
A large, dark sheet on the street, surrounded by shards of glass and bloodstains. It wasn't hard to guess what the sheet was covering.  
Matthias took a look into the ambulance, where the medical staff was fixing two stretchers, each of them carrying an unconscious person.  
The young policeman spotted his best friend, Doctor Parr, who shared a quick, meaningful glance with him. She was wearing a surgical mask and a headset, only her upturned, dark eyes were visible, but, anyway, Matthias perfectly managed to understand her thoughts.   
“Armed robbery, uh?”  
Agent Fèran Sahin placed his hand on the blonde's large shoulder, patting it. His tone was sharp and ironic.  
Matthias turned his head, blinking confusedly: “Armed robbery? All this atrocious violence just to steal... what? Some money and an engagement ring?”  
“Well, this is what Chief Brum stated.”  
It didn't make sense. He read the police report again, trying to find any clue.  
An unidentified criminal band reached the top floor of the building and broke into a flat, killing a rock musician, Kaz Rietveld, and severely injuring his girlfriend and his older brother.  
Kaz was the body laid under the dark sheet: the criminals shot him twice and, while he was still alive, they threw him out of the window.  
Yes, it was the Demon's Night, yes, criminals were more active in those hours. But Matthias couldn't believe that a few money (the Rietvelds didn't even keep a safe in their home) and an average expensive ring could led to such a savage, cruel attack.  
“If they only wanted money and jewels, they could easily take them,” he commented. “They shot all the people inside at least once. Why throwing out of a window an already seriously injured man? Why savagely beating Miss Ghafa and Jordie Rietveld for several minutes, after shooting them too? This violence... this rage... it sounds more like an...”  
“Execution.” Agent Sahin continued, his lips a plain line.  
He was a Suli man, around Matthias' age; he was used to wear his long, dark hair tied up in a ponytail (something Chief Brum strongly despised) and, even though he became blind after an accident, he was still one of the best men of Ketterdam Police Department.  
Matthias opened his mouth to answer, when a pitiful cry caught his attention.  
A Shu boy, around twenty, had somehow managed to reach the crime scene and he was running towards the ambulance, that had just left.  
“No! Jordie, no! Inej!”  
“Hey, hey,” Fèran stopped him. “You should stay out of the perimeter, kid. No civilians here.”  
The boy's amber eyes were swollen and wet, tears fell down his cheeks: “Please, let me go with them!”  
Matthias gently placed his huge hands on the lad's tiny shoulders, trying to calm him down: “I'm sorry, we can't, the doctors need to be alone while working... take a breath... what's your name?”  
“Kuwei...” he sobbed. “Kuwei Yul-Bo...”  
“Kuwei... are they your relatives?”  
“Yes... I mean, no... I mean...” he rubbed his eyes with his hands, trying to wipe tears out. “They take care of me... they're my family... will... will they... die? Like Kaz?”  
Matthias felt his heart sink. He offered the boy a clean handkerchief, while Fèran, by their side, sighed.  
“Their... their conditions are not good...” the Fjerdan started. “But... but the doctor who's taking care of them is my friend and she's one of the best. She has never failed a surgical operation. She once saved me too and I was a step from the death. And, before leaving, she said Miss Ghafa... Inej, has several chances to survive...”  
“And Jordie?” Kuwei asked, his voice a feeble whisper.  
Matthias lowered his glance: “Lena... she will do everything to save both...”  
Suddenly, rain started to fall.


	2. KAZ. "Out of the darkness"

He had been wandering in the darkness for a long time. So long he had just started to find all that darkness almost warm and reassuring.  
Yes, that darkness was a good place to cradle all his rage, all his sadness, all his desire for revenge.  
Memories were smoky and confused, but his feelings, oh, all his feelings were so intense and clear they had become part of his entire essence.  
He was no more whoever he had been. He was rage. He was sadness. He was revenge.  
And he was getting used to this, until that sudden flash of life tore him away from his dark, silent world.  
Silence was the first thing to be broken: a dull, persistent ticking echoed into his mind, longer enough to annoy him. Then, a voice called him. But it was not a human voice, no, it was more like... a croak. No, a caw. The caw of a crow.  
A glimpse of light hurt his eyes, making him scream.  
All his senses started to fully work again, while the voice of the crow kept on echoing in his head.  
_“Come back. Come Back. Come back.”_  
He didn't even dare to wonder how he could understand what the animal was saying. Keeping his eyes closed, he perceived his body again and he moved, he rose, he crawled on his stomach, until he felt a plain, solid ground beneath him. Then, he rolled onto his back and... he breathed. Fresh, clean air filled his lungs.  
When he finally found the courage to open his eyes, an immense, black veil filled with thousands little diamonds was the first thing he saw.  
_“The sky,”_ he thought. _“The night sky.”  
_A piece of one of his songs suddenly came to his mind: y _our eyes are mirrors, mirrors to a night sky.  
_The song he wrote for Inej. Inej had stars in her eyes...  
_“Inej!”_  
A flash of memories shook his entire soul. He screamed, sitting up, his face buried in his hands.  
_“Caw!”  
_That crow again...  
He opened his eyes, peeking between his fingers: in front of him, a large, smooth stone, with a crow at the top of it.  
The magnificent creature had beautiful black feathers, a strong beak and his eyes were two little, wise spheres of obsidian.  
“Who are you?” the young man asked, his voice hoarse and scratchy. “Who am...”  
His eyes fell on the stone, on the letters engraved on it.  
“... I?”  
It wasn't a simple stone. It was a gravestone.

  
_“Kaz Rietveld  
26  
Beloved brother, fiancé and friend  
  
Can't rain all the time” _

  
Kaz Rietveld...  
All the pieces began to take their place.  
_He_ was Kaz Rietveld. He was a rock musician, who chose Kaz Brekker as his art name.  
He was Inej's fiancé, friend of Jesper, Kuwei, Anika, Rotty, Specht, Pim... brother of Jordie...  
_Jordie!_  
A fierce pang of pain stabbed his heart when his glance landed on the gravestone next to his: Jordie's name was there.  
Confused flashes of memories filled his head, until his fingers clutched his own hair and a painful scream came out from his mouth.  
He screamed and cried, he let all his pain and frustration go. The crow was still there, looking at him, his dark, feathered head slightly reclined.  
It... no, _she_ , somehow Kaz knew the animal was female, was a silent witness of his pain, but she also made him feel... understood?  
Once he stopped screaming, the young man raised his eyes, exchanging a long, meaningful glance with the creature.  
_“You brought me back,”_ he mentally told her. _“And now... we're bonded... I can... feel you... and I know you can feel me...”  
_The crow sent him an affirmative response.  
Kaz would have never believed something like that was possible. And yet... and yet it was happening to him.  
“Help me,” he pleaded. “I need to know... what's happening... what happened... why I am here...”  
A familiar image appeared in his mind. Yes, that made sense...  
“Home...” he murmured. “I must go back home.”  
  


Every step he took, he felt an unusual energy that was growing and growing into him.  
He walked down the dark, lonely alleys, while the crow was flying over him, slightly ahead.  
Home.  
He could find some answers there, he was sure. Well. At least, that was what the magnificent bird was telling him and, having no other clues, Kaz decided to accept her suggestion.  
Not to mention that he absolutely needed to change his clothes: he was wearing a white shirt and a pair of black trousers, both worn out and dirty, but, first of all, he wasn't wearing his gloves.  
He needed them. It was since the day his parents died he needed his hands to be protected from the touch of human flesh.  
A painful memory filled his head and, in a moment, he was a child again, a little boy lost in the sea, desperately trying to keep his mother's body on the surface, his tiny hands on the cold, swollen flesh of her arms and face.  
The ship they were travelling on had sunk hours before, people were dying waiting for the rescuers and Kaz couldn't let his grip on the already dead woman, not after seeing his father disappearing into the depths, not with Jordie out of his sight.  
When Jordie finally found him, rescuers had just arrived, and the older boy had to persuade the kid to let their mother go...  
That day... it was since that day he...  
_Home_.  
The voice of the crow in his head awoke him from his memories. He instinctively rose his glance: a tall, old, dark building stood in front of him.  
Yes... home... that was home.  
The crow rested her claws on his shoulder, inviting him to go in. Kaz mechanically obeyed, pushing the front door.  
_“I remember that night,”_ he thought, walking to the upper floors. _“I had just come back home after the rehearsals... I thought Inej and Jordie were already sleeping... I took the elevator, because...”  
_He stopped for a while, frowning.  
_“My leg!”  
_He was too shocked and confused to realize it before, but he was supposed to have a limping leg. During some days, he was forced to take the elevator to reach his flat, at the top floor, because the pain was intolerable.  
But in that moment... he was putting little to no effort to walk on the staircases. He actually didn't limp at all.  
_“It seems there's no limit to surprises,”_ he murmured.  
He hadn't only been brought back to life, there was more, so much more in that miraculous resurrection. His body was different, it was stronger, he could feel it.  
When he reached his flat ( _home!_ ) and placed his hand on the door handle, he didn't feel tired.  
“So weird...”  
The door wasn't locked. Kaz took a peek inside and he immediately noticed there was someone inside. He entered, cautiously, while the crow flew across the entrance hall and the living room, finding a nice place to rest, on the sofa headboard.  
A familiar voice came from the kitchen: “Wy? Is that you?”  
_Jes_...  
There were no doubts, that voice belonged to Jes, Jesper Fahey, lead singer of their rock band, _The Dregs._ Jesper Fahey. His best friend.  
Kaz held his breathe, unsure about what to do. Would it have been better to hide somewhere? Show up? Go out of home and return later?  
He didn't need to decide, because Jesper involuntarily did it for him: his tall figure appeared in the living room, emptying a little bottle of lemonade.  
“Hey, love, would you like some...”  
Time seemed to stop in the old style flat. The young Zemeni widened his greyish-green eyes, freezing, his lips trembling. Then a loud, terrified scream came out of his mouth and the glass bottle flew in the revived boy's direction, crashing against his pale forehead and leaving a long cut on it.  
“Damn!” Kaz hissed. “Jes, what the fuck!”  
“ _Jes what the fuck?_ ” the taller man yelled. “ _Jes what the fuck?_ YOU what the fuck! How can you be here? No,no, it's impossible, it's impossible, maybe Pim played me a prank and added some alcohol to my lemonade... yes, I'm probably drunk and having hallucinations, okay, now I'll close my eyes, I'll count to ten and then you'll go away.”  
Kaz raised his eyes to the ceiling, while his friend took a deep breath and slowly counted to ten, his eyelids sealed.  
“... eight... nine... and ten!”  
Jesper opened his eyes again, frowning when he saw his friend still there. The crow, who was still perched on the sofa, let a loud _“Caw!”_ out, making him wince, and flew back on Kaz's shoulder.  
“Saints!” Jesper screamed. “What the hell is happening?”  
The revived man sighed, showing his palms and taking a cautious step ahead: “It's me, Jes. Kaz. You're not drunk, if you were, you would be wandering around the house, singing dirty songs and probably with no pants on.”  
“Hey, it happened just once and...”  
Jesper bit his own tongue, looking at his old friend. He shook his head, sitting on the sofa, he buried his face in his own hands and sighed: “No, no, you cannot be Kaz. Kaz is dead. A group of bastards murdered him a year ago... I saw his body... I... I was there when he and Jordie...”  
His shoulders started to raise and fall in a convulsive rhythm.  
Kaz looked at the crow on his shoulder. Her thoughts immediately reached his head, showing him what to do. The young man stiffened.  
_“Do... do I really have to do it? The only person I was able to touch was Inej... and just for a bit...”  
_The animal sent an affirmative response to his mind, reassuring him that her powers would have helped.  
Kaz took a deep breath, then, he slowly reached his friend, who was still sobbing, crouched on the sofa. He knelt in front of him.  
“Jes...”  
The tall, lean boy raised his glance, lowering his hands. His eyes were red and swollen, his cheeks wet with tears.  
“Who are you?” he whispered, with a weak, broken voice.  
Kaz moved his trembling hands to his friend's face, barely touching his dark skin with the tips of the fingers.  
For a moment, he felt like he was drowning in cold water, grabbing his mother's swollen flesh, and panic started to rise in his chest.  
_“I told you,”_ he mentally said to the crow. _“I cannot do...”  
_A strong stream of power filled his body, flowed through his soul: his fingertips became insensitive and, for a while, all he could feel was the warm, powerful river of memories that linked his and Jesper's minds.  
_“What... what's happening?”_ his friend mentally asked.  
_“Let me show you, Jes...”_  
He showed him everything that happened that night: his awakening from the darkness, the crow who called him back, the starry sky, his and Jordie's gravestones, his confused walk to home...  
Somehow, he could feel Jes was scared and confused as well, but he was starting to understand. He was starting to believe.  
_“I needed answers, Jes. That's why I came back here.”  
_The mental connection suddenly broke, leaving both shocked and trembling for a while. Then, Jesper raised his eyes to his friend's, panting.  
“It's... it's really you...”  
Kaz crossed his arms, hiding his hands under his own armpits: “Yes... it's really me... it seems impossible to me as well, but... I'm here. And I need to know what happened after I died.”  
He nodded at the crow on his shoulder: “She helped me to regain my last memories. I was coming home after the rehearsals... one year ago, according to what you said... I thought Jordie and Inej were sleeping. And then I saw the door was opened and... Inej and Jordie were fighting against four people... two of them were wearing masks.... and they...”  
“They shot you,” Jesper continued.  
“Yes. They shot me, twice. And then they threw me out of that window...”  
He pointed at the large, semicircular window at the right of the sofa: “I remember it clearly, now. Can you tell me what happened after it, Jes?”  
The young singer sighed, wiping his wet cheeks with the back of his hand: “What happened after... I spent days at the hospital and at the police station. Speaking of the latter, I lost a lot of time. They closed the case in a few hours. Armed robbery. What an idiocy... I tried everything to persuade them to reopen the case and to actually investigate, but it had been like talking to a slammed door.”  
“This is pretty suspicious...” Kaz commented, sitting next to his friend.  
“It is. That fucking idiot, Chief Brum... I don't like him, I think he knew much more than he wanted to show. Maybe he's trying to protect someone...”  
“We will find out what he's hiding... but, Jes... what about Jordie and Inej?”  
Jesper hesitated, swallowing hard. He closed his eyes and sighed: those memories were terribly painful to him.  
“They had been taken to the hospital after the aggression. Jordie died thirty hours later... the doctor did everything she could, maybe also more... but there was nothing she could do for him. And Inej... I spent days and nights by her side, holding her hand, pleading her to resist, pleading her to live. And she eventually did it. She survived the atrocities of that night. But she carried the consequences for a long time... she had been shot in her right leg... she couldn't practice for months and missed important competitions...”  
Kaz buried his face in his hands, sighing. Jordie... his beloved brother suffered for thirty hours before his last breath... and Inej... she had so many plans... she was a famous athlete, with a brilliant career, she was training for three huge competitions. And after those competitions...  
_“We would have become husband and wife...”_  
Those four criminals took everything away in a single night. For a handful of money and an engagement ring, they destroyed so many people's lives.  
“Jes, I...” the guitarist started. “I will make them pay for this... for what they did us. To me, to Jordie, to Inej... and to you and our friends...”  
“How?” the tall boy asked. “We don't know who those people are. The police... Brum is obviously hiding information to protect someone...”  
Kaz narrowed his eyes, rage rising in his chest: “I will find a way. I know she will help me,” he added, looking at the crow that had found another good spot on the armrest of the sofa. “I'm sure she called me back for this reason.”  
Jesper frowned for a while: “You know... Inej once told me a Suli legend about magic crows... I don't remember everything, but... all this situation fits my memories... the fact you don't limp any more and the cut on your forehead... look, it has already fully healed!”  
Kaz touched the spot where Jesper's bottle left a long wound on: it was true. He hadn't noticed it before, but it has healed on its own, without leaving a single trace.  
“Let me... let me try...”  
He stood up, reaching the broken glasses and picking one from the floor. After a little hesitation, he used the pointy shard to open a cut on his own palm.  
“Kaz...?”  
The guitarist hissed for the slight but stinging pain, but, after a few moments, the wound started to close by itself, until it completely vanished.  
Without saying a word, Kaz slowly turned, showing Jesper his intact palm.  
“Saints...” the singer murmured. “You're like... invulnerable?”  
“So it seems.”  
He went back to the sofa, sitting next to his friend: “I have come back for a reason, Jes. And the reason is revenge. And justice.”  
The taller boy put a hand on his shoulder: “Revenge and justice. I like them. I'm in. And I think we will make it easily, with your new super powers.”  
The right corner of Kaz's lips made a quick, almost imperceptible flick. He always managed to stay serious and brooding, but Jesper often made his self control weaker.  
“Yes, we will make it. But before...” he bit his lower lip. “Where's Inej now? Does she still live here?”  
Jesper rubbed his own black, curly hair with a hand: “Well... kinda. She sometimes spend some hours here, during the day, but she never stays at night. I came here after the rehearsals to check if everything was okay and to drink something, before driving back home.”  
“Where does Inej stay at night?”  
Jesper stood up, stretching his shoulders and his long arms: “She sometimes sleep at me and my boyfriend's home... other times, like tonight, she is hosted by Nina, her new friend.”  
This time, Kaz's lips curved in a little smile. At least, after everything she suffered, Inej was still surrounded by people who loved her.  
“Thank you, Jes,” he finally said. “Thank you for everything you did and still do for her.”  
“She's my best friend, my little sister. I will always be there for her. Now... don't you want to take a bath and maybe... maybe find some other clothes to wear?”  
Kaz took a look at his own worn out, dirty outfit: “Well... that's a good idea. And I would also like to have my gloves back.”  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we are with the first official chapter!  
> It's so nice writing of a Kaz who's a much better friend to Jesper, than the original. But don't worry if you found Kaz too "quiet" in this chapter, he had just come back and is confused, but his cynical side will show up soon, especially when he'll find the criminals who destroyed so many lives.  
> I like less the fact that he doesn't limp, but... well, it's only because of the magic of the crow, that is very powerful but not infallible... I have a very specific plan.  
> And, unlike what happens in the movie, where the protagonist acts almost all alone and is helped by another character only at the end, Kaz will need all the Crows to have success.  
> Okay, hope you're liking this... unusual story, thanks to everyone who read!
> 
> Lynn


End file.
